Mass Effect: Freedom
by LooseBolt
Summary: Whilst Commander Sheperd fought bravely around the galaxy, a group of soldiers where formed. Built from whatever they could find, this is a story of these characters. Romance/Action/Friendship/Comedy ahead!


A loud crackle of electricity made Xavier flinch and turn around, looking towards the ships crappy long-distance communicator. He sighed as his mentor and friend, Revan, fiddled clumsily with the machine's innards. He seriously wondered if she even knew what she was doing. He would have preferred someone more knowledgeable with quantum entanglement to be making the repairs for the hunk of junk; seeing as she seemed likely to kill both of them with one wrong move. But he didn't feel like calling up the engineers from the Yorks engine. They were a bit busy trying to keep the two year old scrap heap flying.

"I think... I have it working..." She said, backing away slowly. She tried to start it up, but was immediately disappointed when the stubborn thing refused to even flicker with life. She sucked her teeth in annoyance and gave the thing a good kick. After a moment, the device sputtered to life, slowly projecting the image a stern Quarian with folded arms, tapping his foot impatiently. Revan leaned back, in satisfaction as the image slowly came into focus. The pale blue hologram finally stabilized after a moment, allowing Xavier to get a good look at the Quarian. Xavier wasn't sure how he felt about changing the ship's course just to talk with someone over a private channel, not to mention a Quarian. However, Revan vouched had for him, so he would hear this Quarian out. She wasn't an easy girl to impress.

Xavier moved to stand next to Revan so they would both be visible to the Quarian. Even though he was a bit taller than Revan's 5'11," her posture was one of much fiercer discipline, a trait he envied about the veteran soldier. Revans bulky N7 Defender Armour was mostly black, with white highlights, with the N7 armour's signature red and white stripe running down the left arm. Being a new recruit to the N7 program, while the Reaper war was on made getting new N7 Armour difficult, so Xavier settled for his suit of Serrice Council Armour, supplemented by a Recon Hood. He was usually hesitant to actually don the thing, since he felt it made him look like one of those serial killers from the old Earth vids, but practicality took precedence over fashion for anyone who cared about actually staying alive long.

"'This is Staff Commander Mason and First Lieutenant Prince. Good to see you're still alive Sidris. Still playing marines with the Turians?" Revan asked, relaxing her posture and leaning forward against the railing that kept the hologram and soldiers apart. Xavier cocked his head, not sure if he had heard right.

"Yeah. As a matter of fact, I _am_, and not for lack of trying either. Some of the higher ups in the Hierarchy are getting a little antsy with a Quarian outperforming their best and brightest. I just got promoted to Service Chief a month ago, actually." Sidris said, a hint of what could have been annoyance barely legible behind the pride in his voice.

Revan nodded at the Quarian. "Congratulations, Sidris, though the fact that they're dragging their feet with promoting you is not lost on me. From what I've seen, you could make Captain easy. But, enough about that. I'm assuming you didn't contact us on a secure line for a social call." Revan said knowingly.

Sidris took a slow breath and reached for something off screen, revealing a datapad. "Right again, Commander. I, uh, 'acquired' some intel regarding a suspicious group of 'scientists.' Ever since they showed up on Noveria, local missing persons reports have increased by 300%. Also, individuals returning from the lab were noted to show early signs of indoctrination. You know, memory loss, confusion, dazed expressions, the works. The last thing heavily populated areas need right now is Reaper tech being brought in to brainwash the lot of them, and judging by the size of the crates coming to and from the facility, there's a lot of it."

Revan leaned back and crossed her arms over her chest. "I don't know Sidris, you've got circumstantial evidence at best. You sure it's Reaper Tech?" She asked skeptically. "Sure enough to ask a member of N7 that I _trust_to look into it personally." Sidris said smoothly.

Revan sighed. "Fair enough. Sidris... do I even want to know how you got this data from the Novaria Development Corporation in the first place?" She asked in a pained voice. Sidris chuckled. "Well, that depends on how much you like the concept of plausible deniability." He said, poking fun at her. Revan sighed and shook her head.

"Fine, we'll look into it. But Noveria isn't exactly within the Alliance's jurisdiction. If we try to make an arrest, it could cause an incident that the galaxy could do without while it's at war with the Reapers. Hell, they might not even let us _land_on the damn planet." Revan said, still not sure about this. "You just let me take care of your security clearance. I'm sure that if you can get in there and prove the disappearances were caused by them, you won't need to arrest anyone. Or, you could just blow the place up and blame it on a faulty pipe." Sidris said sarcastically.

Revan moaned at Sidris' sense of humor. "I swear to God, Sidris, if this is a waste of our time, I'm kicking your ass to dark space and back." Sidris burst out laughing. "I'd love to see you try, Commander." He said as the communication disconnected.

Xavier, finally finding his voice after the strange conversation, decided to speak up as the Commander started to strut off. "If this place has reaper stuff, what about us? I thought if you touched reaper artifacts you became indoctrinated or something? Isn't that what Shepherd told everyone?" His voice was an attempt at strong and professional, though his inexperience was still showing.

"Not quite. You become indoctrinated over prolonged exposure, or at least that's what the theory is. Our trip will hardly cause us to become Reaper Thralls..." His senior said, walking towards a small bench next to the communicator. Her helmet laid beside her already. "But it doesn't hurt to exercise caution, we should probably let the alliance send in their experts after we're finished inside." She paused for a second, observing her partner. "Still... It would be for the best if we were to avoid the touching of anything when we are there. Am I understood Lieutenant?" Her voice stern towards the biotic.

"Yes Ma'am" He said, smiling before being dismissed. He left the room at a slow pace, but sped up as he made his way through the ship.

Once he arrived at the little alcove at the front of the ship, where Angelina Star, the ship's pilot was working her trade. She was an average height, being around 5'6." Her blonde hair was cut short, and swept across to the left. She had small green eyes, with what would appear to be small flecks of yellow inside. Though most people don't bother looking at her eyes, since there were two, much larger, orbs a bit lower down. However, she likes how her strange eyes set her apart from other people, as it makes her feel unique. She was a bit obsessed with her looks, making sure to spend a few extra creds every shore leave for skin care, hair care, and other beauty products. Although this is a tad strange for a military girl, it's never gotten in the way of her duties, so the Captain allows it. Plus, it does wonders for the crew's morale.

Star glanced up briefly as Xavier approached her. She turned around in her swivel chair and faced him with one of her trademark dazzling smiles. "So, word on the ship is we're changing course to Noveria. And here I thought we were going to be getting tons of simple recon or scouting missions for the whole war. Though, it's generally a polite gesture to let the pilot know the destination _prior_to takeoff. What brought about our sudden change in direction anyway?" She said, her voice curious as she shifted her eyes back on the ship's controls.

"You not believe me even if I told you, Star. Some Quarian Chief from the Hierarchy was talking to the Commander and gave us a tip about possible Reaper tech on Noveria. I couldn't believe it at first, but when she saw him she actually smiled! Can you believe that?" Xavier said, acting over-excited. Star was silent for a moment. "What are you talking about? Revan smiles at me _all the time_." She said, in a confused voice. Xavier's excitement died down as the flight lieutenant failed to get the joke. She could be a little slow at times.

Suddenly, Star spun around, a gleam in her strange eyes as she fully processed what he'd said. "Wait, so the Quarian is in the _Turian_ military? And he's a _guy_Quarian who made Revan smile? Just who is this guy? What's his name and rank? What color was his suit? Oh wait, you wouldn't be able to see the color from the communicator. Did you do something different with your hair?" She inquired, not even letting Xavier get a word in edgewise as she rattled on, random as ever. He momentarily glanced at his reflection in one of the pilot's windows at the mention of his hair to check if there was something wrong with it. The dark brown hair was scruffy and covered the back of his head, just as it had for the last few years. His blue eyes were trying to make sense just what she had said, and more importantly, which question to answer first.

"Uhm... yes, yes, I don't know, Sidris, Chief, and no, I haven't done anything with my hair." He answered slowly while he went over the order of the questions in his head. "Ah. I did it again, didn't I? Sorry about that." She said, awkwardly, finally noticing Xavier's discomfort. Xavier laughed. "It's fine. At least you're curious. The important part is we've finally got something to do besides supply drops." He said, giving her a gentle pat on the arm and leaving on a high note. She gave a small smile to herself as she turned back to her console, unbeknownst to the sentinel who was now walking towards the other end of the York, to the elevator shaft. She was always happy to have a talk with someone capable of talking to her face instead of her chest.

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Hey all, welcome along for the ride! We hope you have enjoyed our first chapter, and are looking forward to to the many shenanigans planned, we have some romance stuff and some killing stuff and all the great things in a story! Wouldn't you just love to find out more. This will mainly be following OC which are thought out with great difficulty, Hope you enjoyed our first chapter, expect more in the time ahead!


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